Gilas-Pilipinas sharp-shooting guard Larry Fonacier has struggled in his shooting after his stint with the national team in the FIBA-Asia Championship last August.But it is now a thing in the past after the Talk 'N Text spitfire have regained his shooting touch in the PBA Philippine Cup.

And he credited it to veteran teammate Jimmy Alapag for regaining his confidence.

Thanks To Alapag

Fonacier said the Tropang Texters team captain has been going hard every practice and leading by example, allowing him to hit top form and consequently recover his confidence and shooting touch.

“Si Jimmy is leading us in practice just as an example. He’s 36 years old but he’s the one pushing us in practice and everyone’s following his lead now,” said the shooting forward out of Ateneo.

On Sunday, the 6-foot-2 gunner wax-hot from the perimeter and gathered 16 points on top of an impressive 4-of-5 shooting from three-point zone to help the Tropang Texters score a hard-earned 101-96 victory over the gritty challenge by Barako Bull Energy.Fonacier's Struggle

Selected 14th overall in the 2005 rookie draft, Fonacier is coming off career-low shooting averages of 34.9 percent from the field and just 25 percent from the three-point zone in the last all-Filipino conference.

His struggles actually started during last season's Governors Cup, shortly after he helped Gilas finish runner-up in the Fiba Asia championships behind eventual champion Iran, that earned them a trip back to the FIBA World Cup in Spain this August.

Other than Alapag’s constant urgings, Fonacier credited his long and stringent training during the conference break for his new-found confidence in the Commissioner’s Cup.